Benjamin Quayle

Benjamin Eugene Quayle (born November 5, 1976) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona. He represented Arizona’s 3rd congressional district for one term, serving from January 3, 2011, to January 3, 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he is the son of former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and 44th vice president of the United States Dan Quayle and Marilyn Tucker Quayle. He was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, three days after his father was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a child he occasionally visited the White House during the Reagan administration while his father served in the Senate.

Quayle moved with his family to the Phoenix, Arizona, area in 1996. He attended Duke University, graduating in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He went on to study law at Vanderbilt University Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 2002. Quayle was subsequently admitted to the bar in Arizona, New York, and California, enabling him to practice law in multiple jurisdictions.

Before entering elective office, Quayle pursued a career in law and business. He worked as an associate attorney at the New York firm Schulte Roth & Zabel from 2004 to 2005, and then at Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix from 2006 to 2007. In 2007 he founded Tynwald Capital, a firm focused on the acquisition and development of small businesses. He was also a founding member of APG-Southwest, a full-service provider of security services for businesses, serving as managing partner of its Arizona branch. During this period he also became involved in Republican politics in Arizona and aligned himself with the emerging Tea Party movement.

Quayle’s 2010 congressional campaign arose after Republican Representative John Shadegg announced his retirement from Arizona’s 3rd congressional district. His father publicly disclosed his candidacy on the Fox News program America Live with Megyn Kelly. Quayle’s campaign drew national attention, including an August 11, 2010, advertisement in which he referred to President Barack Obama as the “worst President in history.” His run was complicated by controversy over his prior involvement with the Scottsdale-based rumor and nightlife website “DirtyScottsdale.com,” a predecessor to the gossip site TheDirty.com. The site’s founder asserted that Quayle had been one of its “original contributors,” writing under the pen name “Brock Landers.” Quayle initially denied involvement but later acknowledged that he had written material for the site. Despite these issues, he won a crowded 10-candidate Republican primary on August 24, 2010, with 23 percent of the vote, and went on to defeat Democratic nominee Jon Hulburd in the November general election by a margin of 52 to 41 percent.

Quayle served in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 112th Congress, a period marked by intense partisan debate over federal spending, health care, and regulatory policy. Representing Arizona’s 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2013, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents in a time of significant national political and economic challenges. Upon taking office, he announced that he would opt out of the taxpayer-funded congressional health care and pension plans. He was identified with the conservative wing of the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement, and in 2012 National Journal named him “The Most Conservative Member of the House of Representatives.” He received the 2011 “National Taxpayers’ Friend Award” from the National Taxpayers Union, the “Spirit of Enterprise Award” from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a 98 percent score from the Club for Growth.

During his term, Quayle served on several key House committees. He was a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, where he was vice chair of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security and also served on the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. On the Committee on the Judiciary, he sat on the Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law and was vice chair of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet. He also served on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, including the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education and the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, the latter of which he chaired. His legislative work included introducing measures related to border security, firearms, small business, government transparency, and health care. He successfully sponsored H.R. 3862, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act, which sought to impose limitations on consent decrees and settlement agreements requiring federal agencies to take regulatory action, and required that complaints, proposed settlements, and awards of attorneys’ fees be made publicly accessible, including electronically, and that proposed consent decrees or settlements be published in the Federal Register for a 60-day public comment period prior to court filing. His tenure also saw controversy, including public criticism after he and Representative David Schweikert were observed high-fiving following the failure of a bill to increase combat pay for military personnel, an incident that prompted an emotional outburst from a soldier’s mother in the House gallery.

Following the 2010 census, Arizona’s congressional districts were redrawn. Quayle’s district was renumbered as the 6th district, while his home in Phoenix was placed just outside its boundary in the newly created 9th district. Although the new 6th district was heavily Republican and contained nearly two-thirds of his existing constituents, the 9th district was drawn as a competitive “fair-fight” district. On February 6, 2012, Quayle confirmed that he would seek reelection in the 6th district. This decision set up a primary contest with fellow freshman Republican Representative David Schweikert, whose home in Fountain Hills had been moved into the 6th district even as Quayle’s had been drawn into the 9th. The primary campaign was notably contentious. Schweikert drew widespread criticism for a campaign mailer accusing Quayle of “going both ways,” language widely interpreted as a suggestion of bisexuality; the reverse side of the mailer listed policy issues on which it alleged Quayle had taken both liberal and conservative positions. Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain publicly condemned the mailer as degrading and beyond the bounds of acceptable political discourse, while Quayle’s campaign denounced it as a “sleazy smear tactic.” Schweikert’s campaign insisted the phrase referred only to ideological inconsistency, though political analysts questioned that explanation. Despite the 6th district containing a majority of Quayle’s former constituents, Schweikert defeated him in the August 2012 Republican primary with 51 percent of the vote, and went on to win the general election against Democratic nominee Matt Jette.

After leaving Congress in January 2013, Quayle transitioned to work in government relations and lobbying. He joined the Washington, D.C., law and lobbying firm Clark Hill, where he focused on federal policy matters. He later became associated with the advocacy firm Hobart Hallaway Quayle, which was subsequently renamed Venture Government Strategies, and he continues to work there in a government affairs capacity. His post-congressional lobbying work has included representation of high-profile clients; in 2022 Politico reported that he was lobbying on behalf of LIV Golf, a professional golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Quayle married television personality Tiffany Crane in 2010, during his initial campaign for Congress. The couple has two children and resides in the Phoenix area, maintaining ties to both Arizona and Washington, D.C., through his ongoing legal and lobbying activities.